Say Hello, Kitty

Hello Kitty, where to start? 

Well, for me Hello Kitty is one of those brands that appears to appeal to a large cross section of girl consumers, from 0-3 year olds to tweens, teens and even adults. Sanio, the manufacture of HK products has certainly tapped into the Japanese ethos of appealing to mass markets, and consumers worldwide don't appear phased that a product a 2 month old baby is wearing and consuming will also be adored by fashion conscious grown ups.

Its a remarkable thing to appeal to the mass market without alienating part of your audience. My daughter, in her fad phases has been into HK for a while now, and although is moving out of wearing the clothing, still consumes elements of the product, and I can see her going back to it in the future. Sanrio have obviously licenced hundred of product and I can only think of Disney and Star Wars as being more prolific in their worldwide licencing of products.

I'm not sure what it is about the HK brand that appeals, its cute, obviously, its clever, and simple, maybe that's it. It also bright and fun. It doesn't stereotype anyone, and doesn't alienate either. There are toys, ranging from figures, to soft toys, to clothing, trainers, bags, hats, accessories, Claire's Accessories particularly stock a lot of HK product, cakes, baby toys, bikes, outdoor ranges, & even beer, but the list is endless. I did think the peak year for HK was last year, but the range and products keep coming.

Piggy Bank Toys, the official website coming soon, has already acquired a couple of Brio branded HK products which we think are really nice and solid, especially coming from a trusted brand like Brio, who's wooden toy ranges are thought of in high esteem by eco conscious parents.

We have acquired a short stock of the HK Stove (Oven) (above) and the HK Brio Toddler Wobbler Walker (below), with the stove aimed at the 3+ age group and the Walker at 9 months. Brio also do a couple of other items in the range which we are trying to source. I know that these might not necessarily be this season, but with the HK brand kind of seasonless and ongoing, I thought these should do well.

see pictures.

should you require either of these items they are available here & here, from my mattval1 store at Amazon.

Going forward, we think that the Hello Kitty range will remain strong, and are keen to stock slightly different but bright and cheerful products from HK, probably not beer, after all we are a toy store, but everything from pocket money toys and collectables to the larger playsets and beyond. Keep checking back for more HK stuff and rarer items arriving soon.